Thank you NetGalley for access to this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was so so strange and dreamlike. I haven’t really read medieval horror before, but this was incredible. 

My few issues first. I think the pacing was off in the middle parts of the book. Also, I wasn’t too keen on the relationship between Treila and Voyne, as we’re told that Treila met Voyne as a young girl and was attempting to gain the love of the older woman. I also wish there was a bit more world building outside of the castle. All we know is that the castle is under siege but not why or how.

Now onto everything I liked. This felt like a fever dream. The three main characters were fully fleshed out, and I loved their arcs. The Saints could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. I feel like we only truly got to meet two of them while the other two were more background characters. The descriptions were very graphic so for readers who don’t like gore, I do recommend staying away. I think Starling’s writing was lush without being overly flowery, extremely descriptive without relishing in the gore. Also, the imagery and aesthetics of this book remind me heavily of medieval religious iconography. This was compelling and unputdownable. Phosyne, my madwoman, my witch, I love you so much, and I can’t wait to have a physical copy of this in my hands.

Sapphics, if you loved the locked tomb series I know you’ll love this.